Conveyors are used to transport various food and other products between processing stations which require the product to be taken from a narrow conveyor to a wider conveyor or the reverse case wherein the product must be spread, singulated, transferred or converged. Prior art used in accomplishing this includes vibratory conveyors which utilize a stationary plate that is vibrated causing a random flow and separation of product which is caused by each unit of product colliding with others causing a random singulation and spreading as a result of the vibration. Alternatively, scraper bars or rake type devices are used to spread product on belt type conveyors. Inherent in each of these methods of locating product on conveyors are the random nature of the location of the product on the conveyor and difficulties with hygiene and product flow caused by product build up on the vibratory conveyor or scraper. This is particularly difficult when transporting product that is not naturally free flowing or granular in nature which may be sticky in nature and subject to product build up, such as raw or cooked meats or leafy vegetables.
In a specific application, it is desirable to slice meat into cubes and then separate the cubes by fat content. An apparatus has been developed for automatically slicing meat products into cubes, e.g., of 1/2 thickness with the cubes spread over, e.g., a 30" width but in a crowded condition. A machine has also been developed for scanning such meat cubes but in a separated condition, e.g., over a 50" width spacing with air jets strategically placed to separate the cubes by fat content. The present invention deals with the problem of converting the 30" width of crowded cubes to a 50" width of uncrowded cubes during the transfer process from the machine used to slice the cubes, to the machine used to separate the cubes by fat content. The disclosure in general will be directed to this specific problem but it will be appreciated that the invention has application to other similar concerns for displacing particles on a conveyor.